Philip d h



- Jan.' s.' 1929.

l 1 69819 P. n'H. nnzssLr-:R METHOD- 'OF AND APPARATUS FOR GASFIATIONoriginal me@ Aprn 10 .A 1920 [ll/lllllllllllll 5 a f l l llll/111111111011 n lil.-

Patented 8, iegg, v f u i I 1,598,493. UNITED sTii'rEs ,PATENT OFFICE l.

'.HiLIP nin. nanssmns", or CLEVELAND, eine, AssrGNoR r.rol AMERICANnaEssLER.

.\ TUNNEL. mLNs;'1Nc.,`oF Naw YORK, N. in, A ooRroRArIoN or NEW vom;` 'iM'n'rnon oF AND APPARATUS ron GASIFICATION. 5 l Apiinc'aaoa-iiiea April1o,v i920, serial No. 372,970. 'Renewed mi 9, 1925.

My present invention consists lin an imdeposited, so that carbondeposits are thereby proved method and apparatus for gasiiicaprevented.If and when such deposits occur, tion. Aprimary object of the invention1s to they Vmay be removed by directing streams avoid troubles fromcarbon depositswhenA` of steam against them. By localizing the A 5 vcoalis distilled in a chamber so arranged steam introduction totheparticular portions 60 l and operated that the distillation heat -is ofthe chamber where there is a tendenc to transmitted tothe coal, wholl orlargely by carbon deposits, the hot bodies can 'be liept convectioncurrents of the ciamber atmos-free of such deposits with the use of an.pheie which comprisesthe gases of distillaamount of steam, which -isrelatively small tion, said currents being heated by contact and willnot create any substantial tendency e5 with hot bodies which may be thetire heated to lower the temperature of the distillation .walls lof thedistillation chambers' or com- Cliamber as a whole. 0f course theheating bustion chambers or other heated bodies in up anddisassociation'of the steam absorbs the distillation chamber. B the termcoal as some heat but this is compensated for, more nsedherein I mean toinclu c eat and other or less, by the hydrogen land carbon monoxide 70carbonaceous materials as we asordinary products. In some cases Icontemplate the coals. useof relativelylarge amounts of steam and Indstilling coal in the manner just delthe quantitative production ofwater gas. In 'scribed there is a tendency for the hydrocar- Some'cases, also I contemplate the prevention 90 bons distilled out of thecoal tri-crack, on.l or removal of carbon deposits by the use of 75contact with the hotter portionsof the sur`- airuor C()2 in' place ofsteam as the decarbofaces of the chamber heating bodies witha nizingagent. p V resultant deposit of a hard carbon coating on The variousfeatures of novelty which said surfaces whichicannotbe readily cut orcharacterize my invention are .set forth in the burned away, and whichtends to increase in .annexed claims. For a better understanding,r 8othickness until uit materially reduces .the of my invention,however,reference should amount of heat whichl the coated bodies'can be had tothe accompanying drawings and give to the c1mml)er.afm0sphere,descriptive matter in which I have illustrated I avoid deposits ofcarbon on the ohamand described preferred form of embodiment ber heatingbodies, in accordance with the 0f m invention. 85

present invention by mixing steam with the (l tlietlrawings 1 is asomewhat dia-A distillation gases contacting with thc hotter grammatic,longitudinal sectional elevation; portions of the heating bodies. Thecondih Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the tions which cause thchydrocarbons to crack line 2 2 of Figi; and

` 85 wi ll also cause the steam to combine with cai'- Fig. 3 is a viewtaken similarly to Fig. 2, iloo' hon according to one or botliof thefollowing liisti'ating a modification.

reaction formulaez- Iig/rs. land 2 oftle drawings show adisg ti ationchamber i ,in the form of a tunnel kiln. The distillation chamber AA has2 refractory Walls B, of masonry with a kisel- 95.

At relatively low temperatures the carbon guhr insulation B1. Benches Cextend along and steam will react wholly or mainly in acthe length ofthe major portion of the chamcordancewith formula at relativelyhiglibe;- nt; op @site sides of the pathway for the temperatures, thereaction'will be wh'oll y o1 trucksD mnsporting @dal {h1-ugh thechammaiiily in'accordance with formula (B2, and ber. Preferably thetrucks D are provided 100 ao and need not he further explained herein.

.atwrtain intermediate temperatures su istanwith shallow trays 'orshelves D on which tial amounts of both CQ and CO"w1ll be the coal isplaced. The chamber is Aprovided formed. The temperatures andothe'cOndiwith double doors E at its entrance end, and

tions controllingr the reactions are Well knOWIl with similar -doors F(of which only one is shown) at its exit end, to permit the periodic yUnder suitable conditions,` the tendency insertion and removal of truckswithout any will-bc for these reactions to take place by appreciableinfluir of air or escape 'of disv the .combination of-'thc oxygeiiof thesteam tillation gases. 0n the benches C are mount with the carbonset'free in the cracking of ed combustion chambers H, in which combusthehydrocarbons before this carbon has been tion isinitiated and-throughwhich the prod- 110, l

A 39 geousl have their walls formed of hollow '.til

he flue J is connected to a stack or other draft producingdevice notshown. Suitable own provisions, conventionally indicated at l1., aremade for th combustible gasto at the ends of the jlatter,

flue J. Between the exitend of the kiln and the adjacent ends-ofthecombustion chambers -vany suitable or usual type,

. drawn'.

K which may be of and as shown is adapted for th'heating -of water andthe generation of steam,'the latter collecting in the steam .andwater'd'ru'm K1.

The kiln chamber is shaped to provide a as collecting space above thepassageway 1s a gas cooling system in the roof of the collecting n thecompartment maybe withl Thev combustion chambers H are I of thetypecommonly employed in the well provide -Patent. No.

own Dressler tunnel kiln and advantaheted. These gases, enter thechannels through the openings immediately above the benches C andissuing from the channels` through tlieupper outlets into the coalpassageway in the general manner indicated by' he arrows'iuF ig. 2. Thespecial features above described employed to adapt an ordinary Dresslerkiln as shown .for example in 1,170,428, for use in the coutinuoilsdistillation ot' coal were not invented by me, but byConrad Dressler andare disclosed and claimed in his Patent No. 1,509,196.

For t e purpose of the present invention l passages L in the benches Cwhich extend upward and o )en into channels H1 in the walls of thecombustion chambers adjacent the goods pathway. The passages L in eachbench C are connected at their lower ends to a channel L1 extendinglongit udinally of the bench, and preferably divided into separatelongitudinal sections with a supply passage L2 f or each section,running to the side of the' kiln and connected to a. correspending steamsupply pipe L, Steam may be supplied to the pipes L3 from any suitablesource as through the branch pipe L5 from the steam and water drum K. Avalve L* regulates the su ply of steam to each pipe L2. A steam suppljypassage L is provided for each of the combustion chamber channels IIflirou'ghout the portion of the distillation e introduction of air 'andVthe combustion .chambers remotefrom the the Aeposits olf-solid carbon'onthe walls of .i

the channels H.

In' the normal intended use of the appara`4 Ytus, the trueksD are movedslowlygthrengh t e kiln and the coal carried in the trayQ1 on' eachtruck D, is gradually increased" temperatureas the-truck moves fromtheentrance end of the he portion along-k -side the end of the`combustion chambers at which combustion is initiated.l As the-coal eatsup, the gases and vapors are distilled o ut of the 4coal and as thesegases and vapors are generated they are withdrawn through the `variousoutlets A1". The transfer of heat from the combustion chambers to thecoal is brought about by the convection eurrents of the kiln atmosphereas previously indicated. As'eaeh truck passes away from the combustionchambers y the truck begins to cool, andthe generation of gases andvapors cease. -The injection of steam into the mosthighly heated ciannels from the passages L, in relatively prevents the formation ofsolid carbon particles and the deposit ofthe latter upon the walls ofthe channels H1. If', for a time, the steam supply be interrupted, or beinsufficient in amount to prevent the deposit of carbon on the walls ofthe chan- H1, any deposit of carbon on the chan- `moved by supplyingsufficient steam to the passages L tor a short geously sight holes M areprovided to permit the inspection of the latter from time to time, todetermine from their appearance whether the proper amount of steam isbeing. supplied through the passage L. l

instead of supplying steam to the kiln in relatively small amounts forthe purpose of preventing carbon deposits vfrom the cracked gases ofdistillation, I contemplate in some cases, the introduction of steam inrelatively large amounts to secure a quantitative yield of water gas forthe unvaporperiod. Advantaizcd coke residue of the coal introduced intothe kiln. v

For example, the apparatus of Figs. 1 and 2, it suitably proportionedfor the purpose, may be so operated that the coal in each car intothechannels H1 Y will be thoroughly coked, at least at its surface, whilethere is a. considerable portion of the kiln zone containing combustioncha1nbers, still to be transversed by the car. In such ease, steamadmitted to the combustion chamber passages Ill along which the carstill has to pass will be superheat-ed as it rises through thosepassages and will then pass into contact with the hot coke and willreact with the latter to form water gas. To

insure a quantitative conversion ofthe steam into water gas itwill benecessary, of course,`

to prevent the steam or any considera ble portion thereof frompassing-directly to the gas o utlet's from the'tops of the passages-H1to which it lis'supplied; 'lfhis `may beaccomplished, -for exam-plelosing some of the outlets. so that the onli/ets for the watergas areappreciabl-y nearer the exit end .ofthe kiln than are the passages H1supplied with steam for the manufacture of water gas. Undersuchcircumstances, the path of gas flow between the point of steamadmission and the .outlet for Water gas will be a spiral Qi severalturns, the up-lowside of each turn b, ing through passages H1 whereinthe steam and gas are heated and the down flow side of each tprn beingthrough the goods space wherein 'the' steam or other gas is cooled. Thisspiral flow is a naturaliconvection eurient phenomenon and as a resultof it, any

.molecule of-steam not converted into water gas'on its first downwardpassage in contact with the coal, may be so converted on a subsequentdownward passage.

If the proper amount of steam is" 'supplied and the combustion chamberssupply sullicient heat, all the carbon in the coke and all the steamsupplied may be eventual-ly converted into water gas. The consumption ofcoke in the manufacture of water gas is an endothermic reaction in whichheat is absorhd. It is to be noted that the supply of heat to t-he cokeby the superheated steam and hot water gas mixed with the coke as wellas the coke consumption and consequent coke cooling are both surfaceactions. The cooling of the coke b its reaction with the steam angmentsthe e ectiveness ot the convection current heat equalizing reaction inthe-kiln chamber.

It will be apparent to those skilled in 'the art that the'characteristic Dressler kiln combustion chamber construction shown inFigs. l and 2, is especially adapted for use in cai'- rying out thedescribed methods, but these methods may be carried out in any type of-muiile heated kilns. In Fig. 3 I have illustrated, by way of example,another type. of kiln adapted for carrying out'the invention in itsbroader aspects. The kiln :shown in F ig, 8 differs from. that shown inFigs. 1 and.

2 in that combustion occurs in, or hot gases flow through ducts HA inthe side walls of the kiln and heat is transmitted to thekiln atmosphereonly romthe inner walls H2 of the ducts HA. A. barrier or partition wallP in Yfront of the duct wall Hz provides al vertical channel P open attop and bottom for directing the convection c urrent circulation ofthejchamber atmospherfnpward ast the wall H-'f With lthis arrangementin]ect steam'intothe bottoms of th'e channel P through. :w esL which maybe similar to the; '1

scribed and be supplied with' steam in' the saine manner.

Having n'ow described my invention, what l claim as new and desire tosecureby Lettersl Patent, is: y

1. The method of making water gas in a tunnel kiln, which consistsinpassing coke through the kiln passageway, supplying steam to the kilnpassageway and transmitting heat to the coke 'from'an enclosed' sourceof heat at the sides of the passageway by' convection 'currents of thekiln atmosphere.

2. The method 'of distilling coal in a continuous tunnel kilnwhichcomprises passing coal through the kiln passageway, transmit'- ting heattothe coal by'nirculating-the kiln atmosphere through "a space partiallyseparated from said passageway and wherein the circulating atmosphere 1sheated, returning the heated atmosphereto the kilnlpassageway and mixinga decarbonizing fluid with the portion of. the kiln atmospherepassingthrough said separated space.

3. The method of distilling coal in a continuous tunnel kiln whichcomprises'passing coal through the kil-n passageway, transmittingheat tothe coal by circulating the kiln atmosphere through a". space partiallysep# arated from said passageway and-'wherein the circulating atmosphereis heated, returningtheheated atmosphere to the kiln passagewayand'mixing steam withthe portion of thev4 i. kiln atmosphere passingthrough said separated space. v

4. The method of distilling 'coalin a continuous tunnel kiln whichcomprises passing coalcontinuously 'through the main `kiln assageway inintimate contact with the iln chamber atmosphere, circulating thechamber atmosphere transversely of the kiln passageway and in contactwith a heated surface at the side ofthe passageway, and mixing adecarbonizing fluid with the port-ion of' the chamber atmospherecontacting 4,with the heated surface tp eliminate carbon deposits.

5. A continuous tunnel kiln comprising a kiln chamber having 'agoods'passageway therethrough, an enclosed heating means ,at

the side ofsaid passageway, a passage adjacent said means and connectedto said goods passageway to permit the circulation of the kilnatmosphere therethrough in contact with said means, and provisions forpassinor ailuid decarbonizing agent into said cham er.

6. A continuous tunnel kiln comprising a kiln chamber having 'a goodspassageway therethrough, an enclosed heating means at the side of saidpassageway, a passagev adja-4 cent said means and connected to saidgoods passageway to permit the circulation of the 1kil n atmospheretherethrough in contact with aid'means, and provisions for passing steaminto saidchamber-'at point-sadjacent said` means. l a

7. A tunnel kiln comprising a. kiln chamher and a combustion chambertheiiein at the side of a goods passageway through the kiln chamber,said 'combustion cham'bei having an open ended channeljin a .Wallthereof and'V ,"provisions for injecting a luidzagent into modify thekiln' chamber` atl- 'said channel to mosphere. f ,v

8. A tunnel kiln comprising a kiln chamber and a coiuntiustion chambertherein at each 1o side ol a goodszpassageway through vthe/kilncl'iainber, ea-'chl'of said combustioncha ers having open ended channelsinthe walls there. of and provisionsforinJeotmg steaminto saldAchannels.- e

9. Apparatus for the continuous carboniza- ,tion of coal comprising incombination a tun-.

/nel kiln chamber having a central passave therein, means for movingcoal continuously through said passage, a separate combustion .20chamber structure extending longitudinally of said chamberadjacent saidpassage, channels formed 1n said combustion chamber struci l .a

ture at theside of'an'd connected `to said passage, and lr'neansforinjecting a fluid decar bonizingagent into said chamber in proximityture. p ,i I

10. Apparatus 4for thecontinuous carboni.L

'to thehighly heated portions of the kiln struczation of coal comprisingin combinations.

tunnel ki'ln chamber havinga central passa e therein, means for movingcoal continucrns` y through said passage, a. combustion chainr structureextending longitudinally of id chamber at the .sides of said passage,- a.ver-4 v to eliminate carbon deposits in said chamberv- Signed atDetroitl in the county of Vayne and State of Michigan this 5th day ofApril A.D.1920.. l l w PHILIP nH. DRESSLER-

